


Surrender

by yeaka



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-06 05:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21221312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Gladiolus can’t even.





	Surrender

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy XV or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

He catches up with Cor in the lobby of the Citadel. He matches Cor’s stride but doesn’t open his mouth until they’ve walked far enough past the doors to be out of the guards’ earshot. Then Gladiolus asks, “Could I have a moment, Marshal?”

Cor slows to a halt. He glances at Gladiolus with the usual light frown. His silence leaves room for Gladiolus to explain, but it takes a few seconds for Gladiolus to uneasily say, “I think it would be best if you assigned someone else to train one of the new recruits.”

Cor lifts a dark brow and repeats curiously, “One.” Then: “Why?”

Gladiolus shifts his weight onto his other foot. His hands dip into the pockets of his dark jeans—not exactly uniform, but good enough for training, which is all he’s scheduled for today. He just hopes he can get one of those sessions off said schedule. He slowly offers, “It’s one of Noctis’ friends. We’ve... he and I have gotten pretty... close.”

Cor doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t see the problem. Last I checked, you and Ignis were close, and you spar together all the time.”

That’s entirely different. Ignis can more than defend himself—he’s a beast in battle. Truth be told, he might even be better than Gladiolus.

But Prompto is a sweet little chocobo that’s half Gladiolus’ size, and it feels like one little shove would bash his head right in. Not to mention that stupid, dazzling smile that punches right through all Gladiolus’ defenses. It’s unsettling. It’s worse when Prompto’s flushed, sweaty, and panting. Gladiolus opens his mouth and fumbles over different words. He can’t possibly say that Prompto’s just _too cute_ to fight. 

Clearly, Cor needs a real reason to authorize any change. And there needs to be a change. Despite all of Gladiolus’ protests, Prompto seems hell-bent on entering the Crownsguard, which means he does need combat training. After a long, awkward moment, Gladiolus begrudgingly admits, “I just can’t hurt him, Marshal. I can’t bring myself to even try. And he’s not going to learn a damn thing if his trainer’s holding back.”

Cor stares at him. Gladiolus _never_ holds back. He has no trouble batting his own prince around the training room like a training dummy. But Noctis was never as cute as Prompto, even when he was a tiny pipsqueak pretending to be a cat during practice. And that was pretty damn adorable.

Cor seems to take pity on Gladiolus, because he agrees, “Alright.” Gladiolus lets out a sigh of relief. “I’ll borrow Nyx and have him do some drills with your friend; that’s as close as I can get to your skill level.” Gladiolus nods, privately flattered to be held in such high esteem. He just hopes he can maintain that reputation once it gets out that he’s got a weakness for cute blonds.

Nodding his dismissal, Cor continues on his way. Gladiolus’ phone buzzes in his pocket, and he answers it to tell Prompto an edited version of the news.


End file.
